


cabin

by neopuff



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neopuff/pseuds/neopuff
Summary: When Scrooge goes to deliver one last present, he's surprised by what he finds.
Relationships: Scrooge McDuck/"Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	cabin

**Author's Note:**

> Here's some AU/Missing Scene/Idk-Fit-It-Into-The-Episode-However-You-Want Scroldie content for "How Santa Stole Christmas!" This was based on a prompt, but it REALLY got away from me so I don't even know, man.

As the sleigh pulled up to what Webby excitedly referred to as _“the last house!”,_ Scrooge couldn’t help but feel a faint familiarity. The snow was much too thick to really tell where they’d landed, but he could just make out a small wooden cabin a few hundred feet away.

He glanced left and right before looking up at Santa. “Someone _lives_ here?”

The jolly bear chuckled and shrugged. “They’re living here tonight, at least.”

Webby and Scrooge shared a confused glance at that comment, but still - he had a job to do. Webby handed Scrooge the box that Santa handed her and Scrooge made his way towards the building.

Even as he got closer, the snow was still too thick for him to really get a look at the cabin, but it seemed _very_ old and barely used. If he didn’t know any better, Scrooge would think Santa was trying to trick him by sending him to an empty home with nothing but a lesson in humility inside. But Scrooge held onto his hat with his free hand and smirked, thinking about how if there _was_ a child in there, they’d be overjoyed to get some coal and some warmth in the middle of this freezing storm.

Scrooge shoved the door open as quietly as possible, hoping that the rush of cold air wouldn’t wake anyone up. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room in front of him, Scrooge froze.

This was _his_ cabin.

Why in the world were they here? His brow furrowed and he looked all around him, taking in the memories of White Agony Creek and his first big gold nugget and _Goldie_ and being King of the Klondike and -

His thoughts were cut off by a noise coming from the bedroom. There weren’t any lights on, but he was _sure_ he heard something. Was he delivering a present to some straggler who’d taken claim of his cabin when they had nowhere else to go? Some homeless child with no one to turn to? A squatter that wouldn’t leave even if they could?

With an agitated inhale, Scrooge took a few quiet steps towards the door and slowly pushed it open - knowing just how to prevent any loud creaks or squeaks. No matter how many decades ago he lived in that cabin, he could never forget the small details.

His eyes had to adjust again - a little bit of light coming from the full moon outside the window gave him a better view than before - and Scrooge was caught by the most unexpected sight in front of him. In fact, if someone had told him he would see such a thing, he would’ve called them insane.

But instead...there was Goldie. Right there, laying on his old bed. Her back was to the door, she was bundled up in a bunch of blankets she’d clearly brought herself, and she had headphones on that - if his hearing was still working right - was playing some _very_ old Christmas music.

And even with all of that in front of him, the thing that struck Scrooge the most was the neatly wrapped present sitting on the mattress next to her. It even had a little bow on top...and a tag that had his name in clear, bold letters.

In all the shock and awe of the magical image in front of him, Scrooge lost his grip of the present he’d brought and it fell to the floor with a loud _thump!_ He jumped an inch, but Goldie practically _leaped_ into the air while simultaneously trying to detangle herself from the blanket bundle _and_ get her headphones off so she could figure out what was going on.

When they finally locked eyes, she had her headphone cord wrapped around her neck and through her hair, two of the blankets were still covering half her arms, and her hair was sticking up in every other direction.

He thought she looked absolutely beautiful and gave her a simple smile.

“S…” she started with a stutter that he didn’t expect. “...are...are you really here? Or am I hallucinating from the cold?”

Scrooge smiled even wider. “I’m here.”

“Ah.”

He thought she was going to continue her thought, but instead Goldie’s face just turned a bright red and she kicked her leg back, knocking the present off of the bed and out of Scrooge’s view. Then she stood up with a surprising amount of grace (all things considered), shimmied her way out of the blankets, and ripped the headphones off of herself and threw them behind her. She then started to retie her hair, flattening the top of it without saying a word.

“So…” Scrooge finally broke the silence, realizing she didn’t want to talk about what he just walked in on. “...what’re you doin’ here, Goldie?”

She was still tying her hair back into her favorite ponytail when he spoke, but his words made her lose concentration and her scrunchie slid down her hand - shooting off towards Scrooge like a rogue rubber band. He caught it with ease and closed his fist around it.

Goldie sighed and let her hair fall down along her back. “...just...celebrating Christmas. What else?”

He finally moved from his spot at the door and took one of her hands in his, gently placing the hair scrunchie back into her palm. “You celebrate Christmas _here?_ ”

She turned to him and stared down at the fabric in her hand. “...sometimes.”

“Why?” he asked quietly, leaning his face closer to hers.

Goldie still wasn’t looking at him. “...where else would I go?”

Scrooge lifted up a hand and placed it against her cheek. “How long have you been coming here? You could’ve told me. I...I would’ve -”

She shook her head and shoved him away from her. “It’s not-! I...I didn’t want _you_ to be here! It’s just that I don’t have any family so it’s...it’s comfortable for me!”

He rolled his eyes at her obvious lying and took a moment before suddenly shoving her - with Goldie caught so off-guard, she fell back onto the bed with a loud _oomf!_ and Scrooge crawled past her without any trouble. He ignored the creaking of his old bones as he grabbed the present she’d kicked off the bed before and quickly stood up and looked at it.

 _“Hey!”_ Goldie shouted, the deep blush on her cheeks growing darker by the minute. She followed him and tried to grab the gift out of his hands, but Scrooge held it high above his head so she couldn’t get to it. She practically growled as she tried to reach it and Scrooge responded by placing his free hand on the side of her face and pulling her in for a kiss.

Goldie quieted down immediately and melted into it, letting her hands rest on his shoulders.

Scrooge felt a small bit of sympathy for how embarrassed she was... _very_ small. It wasn’t like she hadn’t teased him for his sentimentality a million times over the years, and he was going to enjoy this moment for decades and decades to come.

As soon as the kiss ended, Scrooge shoved her again - letting Goldie fall back onto the bed once more so he could focus on the present. This time she took the hint and stayed seated, huffing out a shaky breath and crossing her arms over her chest. She almost looked like she was going to leave right then and there.

He walked back to the mattress and took a seat next to her, still holding the wrapped box in his hand. It was small and there wasn’t much weight to it at all. He noticed her staring down at her lap and put the box down on the bed between them. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost think she was tearing up.

“I won’t open it if it’d really bother you that much.”

Goldie let out a short, harsh chuckle and wiped the back of her hand against her eyes. Scrooge had seen her cry before - very few times, and it was usually followed by her walking out of the room - but this felt different somehow.

“...no,” Goldie finally said with a scoff. “You should.”

His curiosity got the better of him and Scrooge grabbed it again, quickly tugging off the bow and placing the ribbon beside him. He tore the paper neatly and lifted the lid of the box, raising an eyebrow in confusion when he saw what was inside.

He reached two fingers into the box and grabbed it, holding it in front of his face. “...a key?”

“Mmhmm,” Goldie hummed, staring at the object in his hand.

Scrooge frowned and continued inspecting it. It looked very old, and worn...it was an unusual shape and seemed to be made of brass. “A key to where?”

She shuffled around a bit and nervously tugged at some of her hair. Scrooge thought she looked adorable, but the shyness was definitely leaving him more confused.

“...to me.”

“To...you,” Scrooge repeated, not sure he heard right.

Goldie shrugged her shoulders and spun one of her hands around while she spoke. “Stick the key into any door and when you open it, it’ll lead to wherever I am. So if you need my help with something or you...just want to see me...or whatever. You don’t have to ever use it. But it’s yours if you want it.”

There was a tinge of pink on Scrooge’s own cheeks - though it didn’t compare to Goldie’s - and he looked down at the key again. “That’s...is this...one of the Lemurian Anomaly Keys?”

She nodded and hummed in confirmation.

“And you’re givin’ it to me? Just like that?” Scrooge sounded shocked, but he had the biggest smile on his face and was one hundred percent ready to kiss her again.

Goldie shrugged. “It only works with the matching key…” She pointed at a bag on the floor that Scrooge hadn’t noticed before. “...so it’s not much use just for me.”

He reached over and grabbed her face again, tugging her to him for another quick kiss. “Goldie, dear, when did you find this? It’s amazin’.”

She laid her forehead down on his shoulder and sighed. “...1977.”

Scrooge froze for a second before grabbing her shoulders and shoving her upright in front of him. “Did I hear you right? 1977? Why are you only just giving it to me _now?_ ”

“It’s...I just…” Goldie swatted his hands and turned around. “I...I don’t know, Scrooge. I just...I didn’t want to just give it to you. I wanted you to...come get it.”

“How could I come get it if I didn’t even know you were _here?_ ” Scrooge asked genuinely, feeling a little frustrated thinking of the number of times he could’ve used her gift to get out of sticky situations or bring her on adventures with him. “We havenae spent Christmas Eve together since 1897! I couldnae have…”

He stopped talking as she stood up and walked towards the window, hugging herself.

“...Goldie?”

“I _knew_ you didn’t remember. I knew it and I still came here anyway,” Goldie spit out with a bitter, cold laugh. She turned around and glared at him, feeling an indignant heat in her chest. “You told me...you told me on December 18th, 1966 that you wanted to spend Christmas with _me_ , in _this_ cabin - just the two of us. That’s what you said to me!”

Scrooge gulped. She was right, he didn’t remember that.

She glared down at the floor. “And I was dumb enough to think you really meant it. So I came here.”

Guilt washed over him. “...you’ve been comin’ here every year since 1966?”

Goldie huffed and ground her teeth for a moment before reaching down and grabbing her bag from earlier and throwing it right at Scrooge’s head. “Yes, alright?! And I’ve felt like an idiot every Christmas for over _fifty years_ and now you’ve made it even _worse!_ ”

He dodged the bag and let out a frustrated sigh, knowing the signs of an inconsolable Goldie and deciding that, for once, he was going to stay and see what he could do. As she was reaching around for another thing to throw at him, Scrooge took one of her blankets from earlier and attacked her with it - wrapping the thick fabric around her and holding it in place with a bear hug, then bringing her back down onto the bed with him.

She struggled against his arms, but Scrooge just held her in place and thought about ways to calm her down.

“Goldie, I’m _sorry,_ ” Scrooge said quietly, the apology feeling foreign on his tongue. “I didnae know! You never said anythin’! Even when you came to my Christmas party you didnae say anythin’…”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, blinking so rapidly it almost seemed like she was trying to stop herself from tearing up again.

“Cause I _knew_ you weren’t serious about it!” she yelled out, her voice muffled by the blanket. “The only thing more humiliating than you finding out that I’d already spent twenty Christmases waiting up for you...is _this_ nightmare I’m currently trapped in.”

Scrooge felt her struggling stop and loosened his grip around her. “Goldie…” He moved away, watching the blanket crumple around her as she laid back down on her back and splayed her arms around herself. “...I’m here now. Isn’t that worth somethin’?”

She scoffed again. “Not particularly.”

He leaned down and hovered over her, his beak not even an inch away from her’s. “I’d like to make it worth somethin’...” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her again.

Before he could, however, Goldie shoved him back again. “Wait...why _are_ you here?” she finally asked.

Scrooge frowned and leaned back so he was sitting upright again. “I, uh...Claus recruited me to help deliver presents.”

The attention coming off of her shame brought Goldie back to life a bit and she sat back up to stare at him. “Excuse me? Claus, like... _Santa Claus?_ Your so-called nemesis?”

“The one and the same.”

“...wait, but there’s no one here on the _Nice List,_ ” Goldie said with a smirk and a sniff. “So why’d you come _here?_ ”

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure,” Scrooge said with a frown, hoping that wouldn’t upset Goldie even more than she already was. “I suppose Claus thought it’d be a good idea to meddle in my affairs. But he told me to bring the last gift in here, so I did.”

Goldie didn’t react to his confession, seemingly _over it_ already, and looked over towards the door. “Is _that_ my gift?” she asked, pointing at the sad-looking box laying on the ground.

Scrooge followed her line of sight and smiled sheepishly. “Y-yes, well...it’s not exactly…”

She hopped over the bed and quickly grabbed it, tearing off the bow and paper without hesitation and ripping off the lid, leaving a mess of paper all over the room. Scrooge had an unshakeable urge to clean up the mess before remembering that he didn’t live there anymore.

Goldie pulled the small chunk of coal out of her box and stared at it for a second before letting out another laugh - this time it was more genuine and less terrifying. “Yeah, of course. This makes sense.”

Scrooge rubbed the back of his neck. “I, um...that may not be the present he meant for me to give you.”

She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean? Did you swap out all the real gifts for coal so you could prove some dumb point about heat being better than toys?”

“Um…” Scrooge tapped his fingers against the cold blanket on his lap. “...yes?”

“Of course you did,” Goldie said with a sigh, dropping the coal back into the box. She took a moment to let out one last short, breathy laugh and then turned to the duck in front of her. “You’re the worst, you know that?”

Scrooge scoffed and held his new key up in front of him. “And yet, you want me to come see you anytime and anywhere, hm?”

Goldie didn’t respond for a few moments as she walked back over to the bed, taking a seat next to him again. “...yeah, I guess I do.”

Overwhelmed with happiness, Scrooge placed a hand under her beak and tugged her face upwards so they could lock eyes once again. Goldie responded in kind, leaning forward to kiss him and quickly wrapping her arms around his neck.

They stayed like that for a minute, just enjoying one another’s company, when Goldie finally pulled away and patted him on the cheek. “So...if this was your last stop, any chance you’d stay the night?”

He smiled and put one of his hands on top of hers. “Eh...Claus and Webbigail have probably figured out my coal plan by now...I should go take care of that.”

“Hmm…” Goldie hummed, thinking about kissing him again. “Come back when you’re done?”

Scrooge thought about that for a moment before reaching down with both hands and lifting her into his arms, bridal-style. Goldie squeaked and squeezed his shoulders. “I think it’d make more sense for you to just come with us!”

Goldie laughed. “You’re going to hurt yourself, hun.”

“Oh, I know.” Scrooge’s back cracked as he turned them around and took a step away from the bed. “But it’s worth it.”

His arms started to shake a bit and Goldie forced him to put her down, smiling as he struggled. She looked from the bed to her bag and back to Scrooge’s eager face.

“...alright,” Goldie answered finally. “But don’t expect me to stay for breakfast, I am not dealing with a bunch of excited kids that early in the morning.”

Scrooge kissed her again and squeezed her hand. “And I’d never expect you to.”

**Author's Note:**

> You may be asking...what was the REAL present Santa wanted Scrooge to give Goldie? Something romantic? Something sentimental?
> 
> No, it was still coal. She's on the Naughty List, after all.


End file.
